Budleigh Past and Present

Young Reg Varney - a musician before he became an actor, and an artist, and a writer!   The fascinating story of Reg Varney’s life – from East End to West End, and then from TV stardom to a quiet retirement in Budleigh Salterton – is only partly told in his autobiography The Little Clown .  The book was supposed to have a sequel, but somehow that never happened, and the reader is left just as the star of The Rag Trade and On the Buses is called up to serve in World War Two. So I find myself absorbed in completing the story of his life for visitors to Fairlynch Museum’s 2016 exhibition. It will be called Our Little Clown and will be published in the New Year. Like many other well known names from the world of entertainment – Peter Sellers, Harry Secombe, Spike Milligan and Benny Hill – to name just a few, Reg Varney honed his skills as a comedian by entertaining the troops.  A young Benny in 1947. He looks quite nice after all  F...

Never mind the gaps I’m busy making what I think will be the first panel for our 2016 Reg Varney exhibition at Fairlynch Museum. It’s a selection of the people associated with the Budleigh area who, as I put it, ‘have given pleasure to millions, with their contribution to theatre, cinema or the media.’ Here it is. It’s still only a draft, with corrections to be made and gaps to be filled. Please let me know if I’ve missed anyone out. The panel is likely to be a permanent exhibit in Fairlynch Museum, to show how the area has been blessed with quite a number of entertainers, writers and artists who’ve kept us entertained. That includes the various drama clubs and societies, not forgetting the wonderful Imperial Productions who have been entertaining Budleigh audiences for so many years. No, not a dance troupe! But it was not an entertaining image that I saw on the front page of last Saturday’s Times ...

Thames Bridges East London seems more and more vibrant each time I go there: an enjoyable contrast to Budleigh though it’s always good to come home! The Brook Gallery’s current show is based on work by Paul Duffin. Duffin  trained as a Draughtsman and Naval Architect in the shipbuilding industry at Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria before studying Fine Art at Goldsmiths’ College in London. He then studied for an MA in Printmaking at Central St Martin’s in London and became a member of The Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers (RE) and has exhibited his prints at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition consistently for the last 20 years.   Tube Home  Duffin is a painter and printmaker whose work is based on the modern environments of cities and towns, creating dynamic, cinematic images of contemporary urban life. The exhibition runs from 3 December to 10 January 2016. For info about the Brook Gallery click on http://www.brookgallery.co.uk/ ...

For the second year running the Budleigh Salterton Chamber of Commerce Late Night Shopping event on Friday 4 December saw a band of Fairlynch Museum volunteers leading the procession down the High Street, following the royal coach.  Jolly good fun, and the mulled wine served afterwards at the museum had quite a kick to it.  

  Shackleton in 1901, aged 27. Portrait by an  unidentified photographer  Visitors to Fairlynch Museum’s Antarctic exhibition a few years ago were fascinated by the story of former Budleigh resident Murray Levick and his five companions, members of Captain Scott’s ill-fated ‘Terra Firma’ expedition. The group succeeded against all the odds in surviving the six-month polar winter, sheltering for much of the time in a snow cave. Antarctic expert Meredith Hooper and me at Fairlynch's 'Survival!' exhibition in 2012 Fairlynch’s exhibition was praised by, among others, the writer and broadcaster Meredith Hooper. The Australian-born Antarctic expert was one of the guest authors attending Budleigh Salterton’s 2012 Literary Festival to talk about her book The Longest Winter: Scott's Other Heroes.   The Endurance, listing heavily, immediately before being crushed by the ice, October 1915.  Photo by...

Looking forward to wearing that top hat again when Fairlynch volunteers take part in the big procession starting at 5.45pm outside the Public Hall on Friday 4 December.  A warm welcome awaits you at the Museum for Late Night Shopping.